How Consuming More Fat Helps You Lose More Weight

The title of this article might seem a bit counterintuitive, since the bulk of nutrition advice about weight loss you’ve seen on the Internet says the exact opposite. You think there’s absolutely no way that upping your fat intake will somehow make you slimmer.

When you look at it from one point of view, it makes perfect sense, because you may think that eating more fat would naturally lead to accumulating more fat. Well, in this article we will explain in details why often the opposite is true.

For decades nutritionists have labeled fat consumption as the number one reason for obesity. Studies in the past asserted that fat was dangerous for our health and one of the primary reasons why people often developed numerous illnesses. Food companies saw this emerging trend and afraid to lose their customers started putting “low-fat” or “fat-free” labels on their products in the hopes of branding themselves as healthy food manufacturers.

Unfortunately, they were wrong. This happened at the time when a certain kind of fat was discovered to be extremely healthy and another kind to be something essential to our well-being.

Good fats and bad fats

Getting rid of the fat in your diet isn’t the solution. It’s the type of fat that you consume that matters the most. The most simple classification you can do is good and bad fats. The good fats aid your health and the bad fats can wreak havoc on your overall health.

Good Fats

Good fats are the type that aids you in reducing bad cholesterol levels, increase heart health and aid in many other important bodily functions. When kept at a room temperature they are acting like a liquid. They solidify only when kept at a cooler temperature. The two types are:

Monounsaturated fats, which are found in avocados, peanut oil, sunflower and olive oil, almonds, peanuts, cashews, sesame oil, olives and many other products.

This type of fat can be outright dangerous to your overall health so try to avoid them at all costs and decrease their intake when necessary. The two types are:

Trans-fats are the most dangerous and need to eliminated from your diet altogether. They are actually processed unsaturated fats which are used to make the food last longer. Chances are you are already consuming them when indulging in French fries, candy bars, hamburgers, candy bars, cookies, chips, pizza and all other kinds of fast food.

Saturated fats, which are mostly known for increasing LDL cholesterol levels, thus increasing heart disease risk, stroke risk and many other conditions. It is believed that you shouldn’t be consuming more than 5% of your calories from saturated fats daily. HOWEVER, when it comes to saturated fats the story isn’t so black and white. It’s more complicated than that.Numerous recent studies have found no link between saturated fat consumption and diseases. Here are some of the largest , most comprehensive and most recent studies on this issue.

There’s an important loophole that food companies use that allows them to show products that have 0.5 grams of trans-fats or less as having zero on nutrition labels. That’s why it is important that you pay close attention to your portions.

How consuming the right kind of fat can help you eliminate the fat

The human body needs 3 essential macronutrients in order to function properly. The three macronutrients are proteins, carbohydratesand fats. You see, our bodies see fats as essential in order to lead a normal life. Putting yourself on a diet that has no fats can cause serious health problems. These are the ways in which consuming more “good fats” can help you lose more weight:

Decrease insulin levels

Diets low in fat are usually high in carbs, which forces the body to rely on carbs as an energy source. The problem with this approach is that consuming way too many carbohydrates will inevitably increase insulin levels, a hormone responsible for managing blood sugar levels. This in turn forces our cells to stop burning fat deposits as an energy source. Whereas, a diet that is high in fat will induce a lesser insulin response, making the body using the fat as an alternative energy source which will result in a weight loss.

They keep hunger at bay

Fats are digested much longer than carbs. This means that you will be less hungry, thus eating less between meals since you’ll feel full for a prolonged period of time. It’s a whole other picture when it is carbs the body is using as fuel.

You’ll be making a lot more frequent trips to the kitchen to get some snacks and you’ll be much more likely to eat something unhealthy since your insulin levels are totally out of whack and your sweets cravings increase. Most of the time, this leads to eating crappy food and the extra unhealthy calories will soon be visible on the mirror.

Extra benefits

There are a lot of extra benefits to incorporating the right kinds of fat into your diet and getting slimmer isn’t the only one. We list some additional benefits to eating the right fats:

They aid in faster and better absorption of fat-soluble vitamins like A, E, D and K, which all need fat in order to be transported to all areas in the body.

They drastically increase brain health, since brain tissue is mostly made up of fats and cholesterol. Eating the right fats will provide the building blocks the brain requires to function properly.

They maintain the cells’ physical integrity. If the cells are to function properly they need healthy membranes which are composed of fats.

What diet is recommended for optimal weight loss?

Now that we’ve concluded that fat is crucial for your health, we shouldn’t forget the other 2 macronutrients, protein, and carbs which must also be added in the diet for optimal functioning and well-being. You should make it a daily goal to ingest the right amount of each of them. Diets that rely on one or two macronutrients should always be followed with great caution. Not consuming any of the macronutrients in adequate amounts will very often lead to numerous negative effects in the long-term.

You should also take into account that getting adequate amounts of micronutrients like minerals and vitamins is just as important. Even though you need these in much smaller amounts, they are still important for your health. Our suggestion is that you get yourself a quality multivitamin supplement in order to easily and efficiently get the recommended amounts.

Every sound diet should be comprised of lean proteins, healthy fats, large quantities of fruits and veggies and whole grains. Beginning to eat like this will set a good basis for maintaining a diet that will satisfy you and keep you healthy for a lifetime. The first thing you need to eliminate from the diet if weight loss is your primary goal are processed foods.

These foods are known to have large amounts of additives, unhealthy fats and sugar. Reading nutrition labels on food products is essential in this case since it will help you eliminate all the food choices you’ve deemed “healthy” in the past.

We must mention that being physically active is just as important when trying to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight. You don’t need to go hard and heavy. Half an hour of some low-intensity training three or four time per week is enough to get excellent results. You should also add cardio into your training regimen to burn off some extra calories next to lifting weights in order to increase lean muscle tissue.

Increasing muscle tissue will, in turn, rev up the metabolism and expend more calories during the day. It’s also good to note that you should try to change your workout routine every once in a while since the body can quickly adapt to the movement which will make your weight loss stagnant.

Sleep is another important factor. It is crucial that you sleep at least 8 hours every day. Getting a quality sleep will make you feel energized in the morning and will dramatically decrease the chances of adding more weight. This is because many studies have proven that lack of quality sleep will lead to gaining weight because of increased cravings and snacking in the middle of the night. That’s why is important to get enough sleep if you are to successfully lose weight.

Drinking ample amounts of water throughout the day is another essential factor contributing to your weight loss pursuit. Regular water intake provides many benefits, and one of the more interesting benefits is that it will fill your stomach up making you less hungry and less prone to overeating. You should strive to drink at like seven eight-ounce glasses a day.

Conclusion

The process of weight loss can be very frustrating and lots of people have given up very easily, going back to their old dietary habits. And how could blame them? The Internet, the main diet info source for 99% of the people, is filled with contradicting information on this subject. That’s why it is important to keep things as simple as possible if one is to achieve a lasting success.

What you should do is follow a diet that has its macronutrients properly balanced, get yourself on a properly structured training regimen, get enough quality sleep and drink large amounts of water. If you thought that fats should be avoided if one is to lose weight, you’ve been lied to. Consuming more fat will definitely help you lose weight and maintain a healthy weight. That’s why it’s crucial that you start eating healthy fats and feel and look great.